Why does assigning an array to null create an empty array?

Question

This is one of those weird ones that feels like I must be seeing things, but here is some code I am debugging:

    private byte[] myCode = null;

    ...

    public bool Tampered
    {
        get
        {
            return Bytes == null;
        }

        set
        {
            if (value)
            {
                if (Bytes != null)
                {
                    ProcessBytes();         /* BREAKPOINT HERE */
                    myCode = null;
                }
            }
        }
    }

I run my code, which executes someObject.Tampered = true; and breaks on the breakpoint. At this point, the debugger shows mycode == bytes[3]. All is well. I step over ProcessBytes. All is still well.

Then, I step over myCode = null; and the debugger shows myCode == bytes[0].

What's going on? Have I just somehow fundamentally broken something? myCode isn't a property, so it shouldn't be doing anything odd. Is there some quirk of arrays in C# that I've somehow previously not known about?

Oh, never mind. It was all my fault. Stating the problem out loud helped though. Turns out the debugger was calling 'get' which called the Bytes property, which re-created the array. — izb
– izb, Commented Nov 10, 2010 at 14:51

Daren Thomas · Accepted Answer · 2010-11-10 14:50:55Z

1

I think the debugger might be showing you the type of myCode, which is in this case an (unassigned) byte array with zero length.

answered Nov 10, 2010 at 14:50

Daren Thomas

70.8k42 gold badges157 silver badges205 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Why does assigning an array to null create an empty array?

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related